Green rickshaw ride to national tourism award

It was left to voluntary organization Barefoot to emerge the lone saving
grace for the state by winning an award at the National Tourism Awards
ceremony in New Delhi on Monday in the category of best responsible
tourism initiative for implementing Green Rider Rickshaw project inPuri.

| TNN | Mar 19, 2013, 05.07 AM IST

BHUBANESWAR: It was left to voluntary organization Barefoot to emerge the lone saving grace for the state by winning an award at the National Tourism Awards ceremony in New Delhi on Monday in the category of best responsible tourism initiative for implementing Green Rider Rickshaw project in Puri.

While the state government drew a blank at the meet as two of its nominations did not impress the jury, Barefoot volunteers were ecstatic at winning the award. "It is an honour to receive the prestigious award from the President of India. Our community-based initiative and hard work won us the award," said Barefoot founder Yugabrat Kar.

The organization lent a new lease of life to cycle rickshaws, discontinued in many parts of the state, on the occasion of World Tourism Day in 2009 when it provided green-coloured rickshaws to around 100 poor rickshaw pullers, who were trained in basic etiquette to greet tourists and interact with them.

"We won the award because the initiative not only gave a new identity to the poor community, but also gave them employment in tourism sector," said Kar, also a tour operator.

Odisha Tourism's hopes were however belied at the awards, instituted by the Union tourism ministry, nearly a week after it bagged the Pacific Asia Travel Writers Association (PATWA) International Award at ITB-Berlin, the world's largest travel trade show. The national awards were presented in nearly 60 categories. Odisha government was recipient of the coveted awards in 2005 (for promotion of rural tourism at Raghurajpur) and 2008 (for introduction of hop-on-hop-off buses for tourists in Bhubaneswar). Besides, globally famed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik had received the national honour in 2005. The same year Puri-based NGO Beach Protection Council of Odisha had also bagged the national award in the category of promotion of beach tourism.

"We had hoped of winning an award. But we are not disappointed as our initiatives received accolades at many places," state tourism director H S Upadhyay told TOI.

President of Tour and Travel Agents' Association of Odisha Benjamin Simon said the state should brand itself better. "Regular tourism related activities and road shows are required to redefine our potential," he suggested.

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